Monarch henchmen
The henchmen of the Monarch, in particular the recurring characters #21 and #24, are supporting characters of the Adult Swim program The Venture Bros. Doc Hammer voices #21, and Christopher McCulloch voices #24. In general The henchmen of The Monarch are, in a word, woeful. All are out of shape, none are particuraly clever, and they all have absolutely no ambition or initative. Most of them seemingly joined the Monarch because they had nothing better open to them or for them to do if #21 and 24's origins are of any indication; and most of them have mundane tasks or jobs ("Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean)". Doctor Girlfriend has declared at one point there were eighty-three henchmen, although the Monarch's penchant for killing random ones when he is in a bad mood indicates that either he had good recruiting policies to work up to that number or a generally inexhaustible supply. Their outfit is of black tights with a golden-orange leotard over it, golden-orange boots, gloves, wings, antennae, and mask, with the eye-goggles colored red. Their belt has a butterfly symbol as the buckle and none of the henchmen are in good enough shape to make the costume look impressive. All are assigned a number, but junior henchmen seem to be given a pet nickname and the costume is without cowl, antennae, or wings (the sign that a henchmen is a full-fledged one). Speedy was one such recruit, unlike most of them, he actually attempted to capture the Venture Boys to earn his wings, but an enraged Brock Samson strangled him, not letting go even after being run over by the Monarch-Mobile, and he had to be mercy-killed. The henchmen's relationship with their employer can be complex; as noted, they seem to be utterly dispensible (Brock is able to take out dozens at a time). Yet they can have an almost bizzare parental relationship with the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend, whom will dress up the flying Cocoon base in Christmas decorations for them ("A Very Venture Christmas"), who will drive them and discipline them as if they were mere children ("Tag-Sale -- You're It!"), and the Monarch once proclaimed to Dr. Girlfriend that the henchmen had cried themselves to sleep at night ("Hate Floats") over her absence. When the Monarch was thrown in jail and thrown out of the guild, all the henchmen left except for the by-then recurring #21 and 24. Most of the others went to work for another supervillain, Monstroso. Due to their inability to recruit new henchmen through the guild, the remaining duo recruited new henchmen from inner-city thugs and gangsters. These new henchmen, though far more aggressive and equipped with firearms, were totally uncontrollable by the Monarch after their first, botched mission to capture Dr. Girlfriend (instead taking Dr. Venture) and mutinied, taking control of the Cocoon and tossing the Monarch, #21 and #24, and Dr. Venture into a prison cell. It took Brock and the Phantom Limb to crush them on a rescue mission, which they did quite easily. As of "Love-Bheits", the Monarch's supply of henchman has apparently been replenished, due to his reentry into the Guild of Calamitous Intent. #21 Number 21, whose real name is Gary, is an overweight pop culture geek. He was kidnapped by the Monarch at age 15, but despite this, he seems to have not only have not lost contact with his family but has also apparently grown to enjoy his role as a henchman. He was one of the henchmen to help organize a party with Baron Ünderbheit's soldiers after the two groups' plans to kill Dr. Venture cancelled each other out, and presumably was one of the few to escape Venture's mad robot G.U.A.R.D.O. Accompanying The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend to Dr. Venture's tag sale, he purchased a prototype lightsaber-like device. Eager to live out his dreams of being a Jedi Knight, he attacked Brock Samson in a manner reminiscent of the Star Wars kid, but learned the lightsaber only lit up and did not actually do any damage. He ran away from Brock before he could be harmed. He and #24 later published a tell-all book entitled "The Flight of the Monarch." This set in motion a chain of events which led to The Monarch's breakup with Dr. Girlfriend and eventual imprisonment. He and #24 were the only henchmen to not abandon the Monarch when he was in prison, carrying out their boss' instructions by destroying the flying Cocoon (or at least flipping it on its side) and attempting to kill the Venture brothers, a goal they actually succeeded in accomplishing, albeit accidentally. At a Henchmans' Anonymous meeting he talked of possibly becoming a supervillain in his own right, perhaps called "The Viceroy." This was the first place he and #24 actually saw each other without their costumes. (#24 commented that #21 bears a resemblance to Kevin Smith.) When he learned The Monarch was back in business he eagerly left home (where he had been living with his mother and running a comic book business) to re-enter his employer's services. He and #24 were charged with recruiting new henchmen to replace those who had jumped ship during The Monarch's incarceration, and they proved quite adept at attracting various inner-city thugs, but this success backfired when the new henchmen proved uncontrollable, eventually mutinying and imprisoning The Monarch, Dr. Venture and the two original henchmen in a cell inside the Cocoon after a botched attempt to kidnap Dr. Girlfriend. #21 proposed using the stash of weapons he claimed he kept in his room to make an escape, but when the group eached his room the arsenal proved to be nothing more than a collection of Magic: The Gathering cards and comic book and movie toys and memorabilia, with a replica sword from The Lord of the Rings having the most destructive potential of the lot. They chose to attempt a breakout with the contents of this unimpressive armory anyway, only to discover that Brock and Phantom Limb had already stormed the Cocoon and disposed of the new henchmen in the mean time. He and #24 accompanied The Monarch to a restaurant on his double date with a woman he met on the internet, Dr. Girlfriend and Phantom Limb. The pair's involvement in the eventful night's drama was limited to a frightening encounter with Brock in a restroom stall. Some time later, with the disillusionment that had prompted the two to write their tell-all book earlier perhaps having returned, #21 decided to explore his dreams of moving up in the world of professional villainy. He forged a pair of Guild arch-villain IDs and managed to acquire a pair of jet-packs from the inventory of one Sergeant Hatred, and tried to convince #24 to go into business with him as an independent super-villain team. He eventually convinced his reluctant friend to go along with the plan, but it went nowhere, with the obese #21 unable to even achieve flight using the jet-packs. #24 Number 24 is usually seen together with #21, and is the only other henchman to achieve recurring character status. He seems to be slightly smarter than his portly companion and the more grounded of the duo. Prior to henching, #24 was a laid-off mill worker. Unlike #21, he originally joined The Monarch voluntarily, choosing a career in costumed villainy because his GED did not allow him many careers. Like #21, he actually seems to enjoy being a henchman, and being taller and thinner is described by #21 as looking like "Jerry Seinfeld with a unibrow." He has a voice very similar to that of Ray Romano. Notably, he was the one to mercy-kill Speedy (commenting "Wow... that sucked!") in Tijuana. He (carefully) released a tarantula into Dr. Venture's bedroom before that particular plot to assassinate the super scientist was broken up by the presence of henchmen in the service of rival supervillain Baron Ünderbheit. He used to own a car, a (mostly) powder-blue Nissan Stanza, which he picked #21 up in when the two returned to The Monarch after his escape from prison and in which he later drove The Monarch and #21 to a restaurant where The Monarch was going on a date (and where the two henchmen had a memorable meeting with Brock Sampson in a bathroom stall). However, his car was stolen by a prositute The Monarch had picked up when she made her escape from the Cocoon. He initially wanted no part of #21's plans to leave The Monarch's service and become independent villains, but #21's rather inaccurate descriptions of the equipment he had procured eventually prevailed #24 to get on board with the scheme. He accidentally set his shoes on fire with one of the duo's purloined jet-packs, but fared better than #21, who was never able to do better than hover even using both of the two devices. #24 quickly wrote off the entire idea of going independent and was preparing to go back to the Cocoon, only to discover that the car he was attempting to hitch-hike a ride from was his own Nissan Stanza, being driven by The Monarch's escaping prostitute, who drove off in terror at the sight of #24's butterfly costume. He frequently has arguments with #21 about unusual hypothetical situations, such as whether Smurfs lay eggs ("Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean") or who would win a fistfight between Anne Frank and Lizzie Borden. In the DVD commentaries, the creators admit that in these arguments they always give #24 the crazier idea. All full-fledged season one henchmen resemble #24 (when in costume), except for #21. Category:The Venture Bros. characters Monarch